Sainsbury’s appealing Egyptian Court’s jail sentence

01 May 2015

Sainsbury’s is appealing a jail sentence handed out by an Egyptian Court to its chief executive Mike Coupe in absentia.

Mike Coupe has been sentenced to two years jail. No notice was given to Coupe of the proceedings against him, which began on the grounds of ‘breach of trust’ – a local joint venture partner accused Coupe of entering Egypt and illegally seizing cheques.

In a press statement, Sainsbury’s has said that it has taken ‘all necessary steps to appeal against these groundless claims and will continue to do so’.

Sainsbury’s clarified that: ‘Mr El Nasharty is now claiming that Mike was in Egypt on 15 July 2014 and seized these cheques, which is an impossibility. Mike Coupe was in London carrying out his normal duties that day.’

Related to a historical commercial dispute dating back to 2001, Sainsbury’s stated that Mike Coupe was not employed at the time frame in question and that he ‘had no involvement and [Sainsbury’s] refute all the allegations’.

The retailer further clarified that Mike Coupe had never met the complainant, who had bought out the retailer’s interest in the local joint-venture partnership using dishonoured cheques in 2001.